us-cbp-cross-rulings-hq-081320•HQ 081320: Country of origin of garments manufactured in Saipan
HQ 081320: Country of origin of garments manufactured in Saipan
us-cbp-cross-rulings-hq-081320HQ 081320: Country of origin of garments manufactured in SaipanGuidance
Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.
HQ 081320
April 14 1989
CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 081320 JEH
CATEGORY: Classification
Mr. S. M. Kim
Vice President
Mariana Fashions, Inc.
Post Office Box 1417
Chalen Piao, Saipan
RE: Country of origin of garments manufactured in Saipan
Dear Mr. Kim:
In your letter of October 28, 1987, you requested the
country of origin for garments manufactured in Saipan,
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). You state
that the garments will be made from rolls of cloth but you did
not specify the country of origin of the cloth.
FACTS:
You state that the entire manufacturing process, starting
with the rolls of cloth and ending with the shipment of the
finished garments to the United States, will be done in Saipan
on machines and equipment that will be installed in Saipan.
You outlined the following manufacturing process for a
shirt, as an example:
(I) CUTTING
(1) Arrange and draw out designed patterns on
papers in a way that unnecessary spaces are reduced
to a minimum extent.
(2) A roll of cloth is put on the trolley which
has a horizontal outlet. The trolley is pulled to-
and-fro along the long working table. The rolls of
cloth are then flattened into 20-100 long folds.
(3) The paper is fixed on top of the folded cloth
and electric cutters are used to cut through the
cloth according to the design on the paper. The
cloth is then separated into patterned pieces with
some wasting.
-2-
(4) The above-procedure is repeated until the
quantity of pieces meet the production demand.
Then they are ready for sewing.
(II) SEWING - The patterned pieces of cloth for a shirt are in
many shapes and sizes. Nevertheless, there are three
main parts - the body, the collar, and the sleeves.
(A) Body
The sewing machine is used to sew the right
chest, the left chest and the back pieces
into one piece. Then the buttonholes and
buttons are added. A pocket is added by
sewing a piece on the left chest.
(B) Collar
The upper portion is folded on top of the
lower portion and the sewing machine is used
to sew along its sides; two plastic sticks
are fitted insides the two ends so that the
two dips of the collar come out with a rigid
look. The collar is then sewn onto the body.
(C) Sleeves
The sewing machine is used to sew together
the sides of the sleeve piece to form a
column shape. The procedure for making the
right and the left sleeve is the same. One
end of the sleeve is sewn to the body. The
wrist piece is sewn to the other end of the
sleeve. Buttons are added and the
buttonholes are opened on the shorter side of
the wrist so that it could be buttoned.
(III) CHECKING
The body, the collar, and the sleeves are now one
piece. Minor work which consist of sewing label and
cutting loose threads are performed on the shirt. The
shirt is then checked by the controller to see if there
are any defects.
(IV) PACKING
The shirt is steam-iron, folded around a cardboard
insert into a rectangle shape, and then placed in a
plastic bag. The bag is packed and sealed into cartons
and is ready for shipment.
-3-
ISSUE(S)
(1) What is the country of origin for garments produced
in Saipan, CNMI, from imported rolls of cloth?
(2) Do the country of origin marking requirements of 19
U.S.C. 1304 apply to garments manufactured in Saipan, CNMI?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The garments are subject to the requirements contained in
section 12.130 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 12.130),
because they resulted from processing in more than one
country. In determining the country of origin of textile and
textile products which consist of materials produced or
derived from, or processed in more than one country, the
imported article is considered to be a product of the country
in which the last substantial transformation took place. A
substantial transformation of a textile or a textile product
is said to occur if a commodity undergoes a transformation by
means of substantial manufacturing or processing into a new
and different article of commerce.
Further, your attention is directed to section
12.130(e)(iv), Customs Regulations, which states that the
cutting of fabric into parts and the assembly of those parts
into the complete article will usually result in the
processing country being the country of origin. In addition,
Customs has held that the cutting of fabric (which contains no
indication of where that fabric is to be cut) into garment
parts constitutes a substantial transformation of the fabric
and the parts become a product of the country where the fabric
is cut.
Therefore, if the fabric imported into Saipan is not
marked in any way for cutting, the resulting garments will be
products of Saipan.
Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19
U.S.C. 1304), provides that every article of foreign origin
(or its container) imported into the United States shall be
marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and
permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will
permit, in such manner as to indicate the foreign origin of
the article.
-4-
Section 134.1(c), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(c)),
defines "foreign origin" as a "country of origin other than
the United States, as defined in paragraph (e) of this
section, or its possessions and territories." Section
134.32(1), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(1)),
specifically excludes from the marking requirements of 19
U.S.C. 1304 those articles which are "products of possessions
of the United States."
Commencing on July 18, 1947, the U.S. became the
administering authority of the Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands, an area including the Northern Mariana Islands
(Trusteeships Agreement, 61 Stat. 3301, T.I.A.S. No. 1665, 8
U.N.T.S. 189). In accordance with provisions of the trust
agreement to promote self-government for the people of the
trust territory, on March 24, 1976, the U.S. signed a Covenant
to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in
Political Union with the United States, Pub. L. 94-241, 90
Stat. 263. That Covenant became fully effective as of
November 4, 1986, and replaced the trusteeship agreement.
Article 6 of the Covenant, {603(c), provides that
"Imports from the Northern Mariana Islands into the customs
territory of the United States will be subject to the same
treatment as imports from Guam into the customs territory of
the United States."
Customs has previously ruled that products of Guam are
excepted from country of origin marking requirements under
section 134.32(1), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(1)), as
products of possessions of the U.S. In regards to the
Northern Mariana Islands, "Customs treats the Northern Mariana
Islands as a territory or possession of the United States and
products therefrom would be excluded from the country of
origin marking requirements."
The Federal Trade Commission pursuant to rules and
regulations issued under the authority of the Textile Fiber
Products Identification Act, stated in a staff opinion letter
that garments made in Saipan of imported fabric should be
labeled "Made in USA of Imported Fabric."
-5-
HOLDING:
Applying the provisions of section 12.130, we can advise
that under the circumstances outlined in your letter, the
country of origin for garments for purposes of international
textile agreement and U.S. marking laws will be, Saipan,
CNMI.
Garments that are products of the Saipan, CNMI, are
exempt from the country of origin marking requirements of 19
U.S.C. 1304 upon importation into the U.S. but must be marked
in accord with the FTC requirements noted above.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division
6 cc: Area Director, New York Seaport
1 cc: John Durant
1 cc: Department of Commerce
JEHendricks:12/2/88
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